Self-adjusting car-fender.



PATENTED 11110.29, 1903;

A.- 0. LAMSON. SELF ADJUSTING GAR FENDER.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 12, 1903. 4 no menu, a snnn'rs-snnn'r 1.

. R O T N E V N -W|TNESSES.

Ynz-ubws PFJERS co. PNOTO-LITHO. WASHINGTON. 0. c4

PATENTED "DB0. 29, 1903.

A. O. LAMSON. SELF ADJUSTING GAR FENDER.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 12. 1903.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

-N0 MODEL.

INVENTOR.

WITNESSES.

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PATENTED DEC. 29, 1903.

\ A. 0. LAMSODL.

SELF ADJUSTING GAR FENDER.

APPLICATION IILED MAILIZ, 1903.

U0 MQDEL.

3.8HEETS-SHEET 3.

INVENTOR.

WITNESSES? UNITED STATES;

Patented December 29, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

SELF-ADJUSTING CAR-FENDER SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters l atentNo. 748,195, dated December 29, 1903.

Application filed March 12,1903. Serial No. 147,435. (No model-l To allwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER O. LAM- sON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Bridgeport, county of Fairfield, State ofConnecticut, have invented a new and useful Self-Adjusting Car-Fender,of which the following is a specification.

My invention has for its object to provide a self-adjusting car-fenderand connecting and positioning mechanism therefor which shall be simpleand economical in construction, so as to adapt it to be convenientlyattached to new cars in building or to cars already in use, which shallbe strong and durable in every part and, most important of all, shall beso constructed and connected that in use the fender will automaticallyadjustitself to the motion of the car, both sides of the forward edge ofthe fender remaining at substantially the same distance from the railswhether the car is carrying a light or heavy load or the load is evenlyor unevenly distributed, whether the track is even or uneven 'orstraight or curved, whether the speed is fast or slow, and when eitherend of the car is raised or depressed or either side of the car israised or depressed, as from an unevenlydistributed load, the connectingand positioning mechanism acting to raise the forward edge of the fendercorrespondingly when the front end of the car is depressed and todepress the forward edge of the fender correspondingly when the frontend of the car is raised and the construction of the fender itselfinsuring that when either side of the car is depressed, as by excess ofweight upon that side, the corresponding side of the for-. ward edge ofthe fender will be correspondingly raised, so that whatever may be theposition or the movements of the car bothsides of the forward edge ofthe fender will always remain at substantially the same distance fromthe rails, thus practically eliminating the danger of a person or anobstruction on the track being passed over by the fender and struck bythe wheels, my novel fender making it practically certain that either onrough or smooth tracks or on curves or when running fast or slow andwithout regard to whether the load is heavy or light or well.- balancedor heaviest upon either end or side a person or obstruction on the trackwill be.

picked up by the fender, and thus be prevented from being struck by thewheels.

With these ends in view I have devised the novel car-fender andintermediate connecting and positioning mechanism, which I will nowdescribe, referring to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, and using reference characters to designate the severalparts.

, Figure 1 is a side elevation illustrating the application of my novelfender and connecting and positioning mechanism to acar-body, the partsbeing in the normal position,as when a car is moderately loaded. Fig. 2is a similar view illustratingthe operation of my novel fender andconnecting and positioning mechanism when the front end of the car israised, as from an unduly heavy load in the rear or when passing rapidlyover arough road-bed; Fig. 3, a view similar to Fig. 1, but illustratingcertain modifications in the details of construction and also mypreferred form of fender; Fig. 4, a plan view corresponding with Fig. 3,the fender being shown as provided with hinges at diametrically-oppositecorners which act to cause either side of the forward edge of the fenderto drop correspondingly as that side of the car is raised; Figs. 5 and6, views similar to Fig. 1, but illustrating other modifications in thefender and in the connecting and positioning mechanism; and Fig. 7 is adetail view illustrating still another change in the details of theconnecting and positioning mechanism.

A denotes a car-body, and B bearing-pieces,

which may be of any ordinary or preferred construction.

C denotes my novel fender as a whole, which is pivoted to the front ofthe car and is provided on either or both sides at its rear end with anangle-arm 10.

An important; feature of novelty in my invention lies in theinterposition between the angle-arm-and the car-body of my novelautomatic connecting and positioning mechanism, which may or may not beduplicated on the opposite sides of the car, one side only being shownexcept in Fig. 4. The mechanisms located at the front and rearbearingpieces com prise,essentially,a hell-crank lever 11, pivoted tothe body, as'at 12, a bell-crank lever 13, pivoted to the bearing-piece,as at 14, and a pivoted link 15, connecting the free ends of saidbell-crank levers.

16 denotes a link which is connected to one of the links 15. The frontand rear mechanisms are connected by a rod 17, pivoted to the link 16and to the other link 15, and the fender is connected to the positioningmechanism by means of a connecting-rod 18, the front end of which ispivoted to angle-arm l0 and the rear end to link 16.

The underlying principle of construction of the front and rearmechanisms is that the several parts of said mechanisms are soproportioned relatively to each other and are so connected, no matterwhich of the arrangements shown in the drawings may be adopted, thatwhen the car-body moves up and down evenlythat is, does not rock fromend to end-the action of said mechanisms is in opposition--that is, eachcounteracts the other. When the normal action of one mechanism is toraise the fender, the normal action of the other mechanism is to lowerit, so that the upward or downward movement imparted to the fender whenthe car-body moves up and down evenly is the difference in motionproduced by the two mechanisms. It follows, therefore, as an essentialprinciple of my in- Vention that the front and rear mechanisms must beso laid out as to produce diflerent motions-that is to say, one mustproduce a greater motion than the other; butit is wholly immaterialsofar as the principle of the invention is concerned whether the greatermotion is produced by the front or the rear mechanism. The laying out ofthese mechanisms is simply a matter requiring the ordinary skill of adesigner,it being obvious that the amount of motion produced by thefrontand rear mechanisms and the excess of motion produced by onemechanism over the other are matters that must be regulated uponconsideration ofa number of different factorsas the length of the car,the proportions of the trucks and wheels, the height of the platform,and sometimes the character of the road upon which the car is to beused. It follows necessarily from the principle of operation just statedthat when the car is tilted on its mid-length that is, from end toend-the action of each mechanism will be to supplement the action of theother mechanism. The movementimparted to. the fender, therefore,when thecar is tilted from end to end will be the sum of movement of the twomechanisms-that is, the fenderwill move a distance equal to the movementof one mechanism plus the movement of the other'mechanism--the fenderswinging upward when the front end of the car tilts downward andswinging downward when the front end of the car tilts upward, as will bemore fully explained.

The connecting-rod 18 is shown as made adjustable, as at 19. In order tosteady the series of levers, I provide links 20, which are pivoted atthe angles of bell-crank levers 11 and 13. In the form illustrated inFigs. 3.

and 4 instead of pivoting bell-crank levers 13 directly to thebearing-pieces, as in the other forms, I pivot each bell-crank lever toa link 22, the other end of which is pivoted to the bearing-piece, as at23. At the pivotal point of each bell-crank lever 13 to thecorresponding link 22, which I have indicated in Fig. 3 by 14 is alsopivoted a link 24, the

rear end of which is pivoted to the side bar 25, as at 26. The object oflinks 22 and 24 is to permit slight forward and backward movement of thebearing-pieces without afiecting the bell-crank levers and without inany way restricting the vertical movement of the bearing-pieces.

The form illustrated in Fig. 7 differs from the form illustrated in Fig.1 only in that the link 16 instead of being pivoted directly to link 15is connected thereto by means of a rod 16*.

In Figs. 1 and 2 I have illustrated a form of fender which is madeseparate from anglearm 10 and is detachably secured thereto, as at 21,the special mode in which the connection is made being unimportant sofar as the principle of the invention is concerned. In the preferredform of fender, which is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, the angle-armsare made part of the fender, and both fender and angle-arms are removedfrom the car together, rods 18 being of course disconnected. Theessential feature of this my preferred form of fender is that Imake theframe of the fender in two parts, which I have indicated by C and Gwhich are connected together by hinges 29 at diagonally oppositecornersthat is to say, part C is hinged to part 0 on one side (the rightside as seenin Fig. 4) at the forward edge of the fender and on theother side (the left side as seen in Fig. 4) at the back edge of thefender. On the side, as shown in the drawings, angle-arm 10, to whichthe connecting-rod 18 is pivoted, is rigidly secured to and extends frompart C and on the left side the angle-arm 10, to which theconnecting-rod 18 is connected, is rigidly secured to and extends frompart C* that is to say, on one side the attachment of the connecting-rodto the fender is back of the hinge and on the other side the attachmentof the connecting-rod to the fender is forward of the hinge, the purposeof which will presently be fully explained.

The matter of whether the bell-crank levers 11 and 13 are placedsubstantially in front of the forward bearing-piece and behind the rearbearing-piece, as in Figs. 1 and 2, or substantially between thebearing-pieces, as in Figs. 3 and 4, or Whether these two forms ofarrangement are combined, as in Figs. 5 and 6, is unimportant so far asthe principle of the invention is concerned and, as well as the layingout of the parts, may be left to the judgment of the manufacturer or tobe determined by thespecial requirements of cars. Where my preferredform of fender is not used, but the connecting and positioning mechanismis intended to operate in connection with any ordinarystyle of fender,the angle-arms 10 may be permanently attached to the car and theattachment of connecting-rods 18 thereto bemade below the level of theplatform, as in Figs. 1 and 2, the fenders being detachably secured tothe angle-arms. In my preferred form of fender, however, the frame isnecessarily made in twoparts, which are hinged together, and theangle-arms are shown as made part of the fender, so that in removing thefender from the car the angle-arms are removed also. The matter ofwhether the angle-arms 10 extend below their pivotal points to thecar-body, as in Figs. 1, 2, and 5, or above their pivotal points to thecar-body, as in'Figs. 3, 4, and 6, is dependent upon the location of thelink 16, to which the rear end of connecting-rod 18 is pivoted relativeto the corresponding bearing-piece. Thus in the forms illustrated inFigs. 1, 2, and 5the link 16, to which connecting-rod 18 is attached, islocated in front of the forward bearing-piece, which necessitates thatthe fender be raised by a forward movement of said link 16 and theconnectingrod. The connecting-rod 18 in Figs. 1 and 2 must be made rigidenough to carry the weight of the fender. 1

In the form illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 the fender drops by its ownweight as soon as the forward thrust upon the connecting-rod is relieved. 1

In the form illustrated in Fig. 5 I have shown a spring 30 interposedbetween the angle-arm 10 and the platform of the car to overcome theaction of gravity.

In the form illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 the link 16, to whichconnecting-rod 18 is attached, is located back of the forwardbearing-piece, which necessitates that the fender be raised by a pullupon the connecting-rod, the fender dropping again by gravity as soon asthe pull is relieved.

In the form illustrated in Fig. 6 the link 16, to which connecting-rodlBis attached, is lo-' cated back of the rear bearing-piece, whichnecessitates that the connecting-rod be made longer. The principle ofoperation, however,

is the same as in the form illustrated in Figs.

3 and 4:. 1

The operation of the connecting and positioning mechanism will bereadily understood from Figs. 1 and 2. In Fig. l the parts are shown inthe normal position, the forward edge of the fender being a shortdistance above the track. The normal distance of the fender from thetrack may be readily adj ust ed by slightly lengthening or shorteningthe connecting-rod 18, as at 19. When the front end of the car is raisedand the rear end depressed, as in Fig. 2, the ends of levers 11 and 13,which are pivoted to the links .15, are swung slightly toward the rear,carrying links 15 and with them links 16 slightlytoward the rear, theeffect of which is, through connecting-rod 18 and angle-arm 10, to swingit swings downward. An essential feature of V the invention is that theparts are so proportioned and adjusted that the relative downwardmovement of the forward edge of the fender will just equal the upwardmovement of the back edge of the fender,which of course moves with theplatform, the result being that the forward edge of the fender remainsat practically the same distance from the rails at all times. It will beobvious that should the rear end of the car he raised and the front enddepressed bell-crank levers 11 and 13 and links 15 and 16 will be movedslightly forward instead of backward, the amount of movement depending,of course, upon the amount of depression of the front end of the car.The result is that when the front end of the car is depressed, carryingthe back edge of the fender toward the rails, the forward movement ofbell-crank levers 11 and 13 and links 15 and 16, through the connect-.ingrods 18, will swing the angle-arms 10 forward and carry the forwardedge of the fender relatively forward and raise it rela- 'and 4 inconnection with the above description. It will be obvious that wheneither side of the car is raised bell-crank levers 11 and 13 and links15 and 16 will be swung to- Wardthe front, the effectof which will be,

' through the con necting-rod l8 and anglearm' 10 on that side of thecar, to depress the forward edge of the fender on that side in themanner already described. It will be obvious, furthermore, that when oneside of the car is raised it must result from relative depression of theother side of the car, the effect of which necessarily is to swing thebell crank levers 11 and 13 and the links 15 and 16 on the depressedside of the car backward, which will draw the con nectingrod 18 on thatside of the car backward and will raise that side of the forward edge ofthe fender, the hinges 29 yielding upward freely. It follows, therefore,that so long as the opposite sides of the front end of the car-moveupward and. downward together the forward edge of the fender will movedownward when the front end ofthe car moves upward, and vice versa,andthat when one side of the car moves down- ICC Ward the forward edgeof the fender on that mechanisms together and a rod connecting saidmechanisms with the fender.

2. The combination with a car-body and front and rear bearing-pieces, ofa fender pivoted to the car-body, connecting and positioning mechanismspivoted to the car-body and to the front and rear bearing-piecesrespectively, and rods connecting said mechanisms together and to thefender.

3. The combination with a car-body, a fender attached thereto, and frontand rear bearing-pieces, of mechanisms intermediate said bearing-piecesand said car-body and said fender, said mechanisms being connectedtogether, whereby the front edge of the fender is maintained at arelatively uniform distance from the track, the motion from one of saidmechanisms partially counteracting the motion from the other when thecar-body is moved up or down, and the motion from both mechanismscombining to move the fender when the car-body is tilted endwise.

4:. The combination with a car-body and bearing-pieces, of a fender andconnecting and positioning mechanisms intermediate the bearing-piecesand car-body and the fender, each mechanism comprisinga bell-crank leverpivoted to the car-body, a bell-crank lever pivoted to thebearing-piece, a link 15 connecting the free ends of said bell-cranklevers and a link 20 connecting the angles of said bell-crank levers,one of said mechanisms having a link 16 pivoted to the link 15, and saidmechanisms being connected bya rod extending from link 16 to the otherlink 15.

5. The combination with a car-body, bearing-pieces and a fender havingan angle-arm at its back edge, of bell-crank levers 11 pivoted to thecar-body, bell-crank levers l3 pivoted to the bearing-piecesrespectively, links 15 connecting the free ends of the bell-cranklevers, links-2O connecting the angles of the bell-crank levers, a link16 pivoted to one of the links 15, a rod connecting link 16 to the otherlink 15, and a rod, connecting link 16 withthe angle-arm.

6. The combination with a car-body, bearing-pieces and a fender pivotedto the carbody, of bell-crank levers 11 pivoted to the car-body,bell-crank levers 13 pivoted to the bearing-pieces respectively, links15 connecting the free ends of the bell-crank levers,

links 20 connecting the angles of the bell crank levers, a rodconnecting the mechan-- isms at the front and rear bearing-piecestogether and a rod connecting said mechanisms with the fender.

7. The combination with a car-body, bearing-pieces and side bars, ofbell-crank levers 11 pivoted to the car-body, bell-crank levers.

13, links 22 intermediate bell-crank levers 13 and the bearing-pieces,and links 24 pivoted to bell-crank levers 13 and links 22 at theirpivotal points and also pivoted to the side bars.

8. The combination with a car-body and front and rear bearing-pieces, ofbell-crank levers pivoted to the car-body, other bell-' i crank leverspivoted to the bearing-pieces respectively, links connecting the freeends of each bell-crank lever on the car-body with a bell-crank lever ona bearing-piece, links connecting the angles of said bell-crank leversand a rod connecting the front and rear mechanisms together.

9. The fender 0 comprising parts C, 0 hinged together at diagonallyopposite corners, substantially as shown, for the purpose specified.

10. The fender 0 comprising parts 0, O hinged together at diagonallyopposite corners, each of said parts having an angle-arm 10, one ofwhich is forward of the corresponding hinge the other back of thecorresponding hinge, substantially as shown, for the purpose specified.

11. The combination with acar-body, bearing-pieces and a fenderconsisting of two parts hinged together at diagonally opposite corners,one of said parts having an anglearm forward of the hinge and the otherpart an angle-arm back of the hinge, of connecting and positioningmechanisms pivoted to the front and rear beari ng-pieces respectivelyand to the car-body on each side thereof, and rods connecting themechanisms on each side of the car-body together and to thecorresponding angle-arm.

12. The combination with a car-body, bearing-pieces and a fenderconsisting of two parts hinged together at diagonally opposite corners,one of said parts having an anglearm forward of the hinge and the otherpart an angle-arm back of the hinge, of connecting and positioningmechanisms pivoted to the front and rear bearing-pieces respectively andto the car-body on each side thereof and rods connecting said mechanismsto each other and to the respective angle-arms, the parts of the frontand rear mechanisms being laid out and proportioned differently so as tocause said mechanisms to produce different degrees of motion, themovement imparted to the fender by an up-and-down movement of thecar-body being the excess of motion of one mechanism over the other, andthe motion imparted to the fender by an end-to-end tilting of thecar-body being the motion of one mechanism added to the other.

13. The combination with a car-body, bearing-pieces and a fender pivotedto the carbody, ofconnecting and positioning mechanisms pivoted to thecar-body and to the bearing-pieces respectively and rods connecting saidmechanisms with the fender, the parts being so constructed and arrangedthat when the end of the car to which the fender is pivoted movesdownward the forward edge of the fender will be correspondingly raised.

14. The combination with a car-body, bearing-pieces and a fender pivotedto the carbody and having an angle arm, of connecting and positioningmechanisms pivoted to the car-body and to thebearing-piecesrespectively, a rod connecting the front and rearmechanisms and a rod connecting said mechanisms with the angle-arm.

15. The combination with a car-body, bear anism pivoted to the car-bodyand to the front bearing-piece, a connecting and positioning mechanismpivoted to the car-body and to the rear bearing-piece and laid out andconstructed to produce a difierent amount of motion from the othermechanism and rods connecting said mechanisms to the fender.

16." The combination with a car-body, front and rear bearing-pieces anda fender pivoted to the car-body and having an angle-arm, of connectingand positioning mechanisms intermediate the angle-arm and the car-bodyand bearing-pieces respectively, the front and rear mechanisms being solaid out and proportioned as to produce different amounts of motion, sothat when the car-body is moved up and down the amount of motionimparted to the fender will be the excess of motion of one mechanismover the other, but when the car tilts from end to end the aggregate ofthe motions of the two mechanisms will be imparted to the angle-arm andwill raise the forward edge of the fender when the end of the car towhich it is pivoted moves downward, and vice versa.

17. The combination with a car-body, bearing-pieces and a fenderconsisting of two parts hinged together at diagonally opposite corners,one of said parts having an. anglearm forward of the hinge and the otherpart an angle-arm back of the hinge, of connecting and positioningmechanisms pivoted to the car-body and to the bearing-piecesrespectively and rods connecting said mechanisms with the angle-armsrespectively.

18. The combination with a car-body and bearing-pieces, of connectingand positioning mechanisms each comprising a system of levers and linkspivoted to the car-body and to the bearing-pieces respectively and a rodconnecting said mechanisms.

19. The combination with a car-body and bearingpieces, of connecting andpositioning mechanisms each comprising a system of levers and linkspivoted to the car-body and to the bearing-pieces respectively, eachmechanism being laid out to produce a difierent amount of motion fromthe other mechanism, and a rod connecting said mechanisms, the partsbeing so constructed and arranged that when the car-body is moved up anddown the movement of one mechanism will partially counteract themovement of the other mechanism, but when the car-body is tilted fromend to end the motion of one mechanism will supplement the motion of theother mechanism.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALEXANDER O. LAMSON.

Witnesses:

A. M. WOOSTER, S. W. ATHERTON.

